Texas House, Navajo Nation approve gay marriage bans

[JURIST] A resolution [official text] amending the Texas Constitution [official text] to define marriage as between "one man and one woman" passed the Texas House on Monday by a vote of 102-29. If the resolution receives final passage on the Senate floor, it will be added to the Nov. 8 ballot to be voted on by Texas voters. Currently, domestic partnerships are legal in a few Texas counties, and offering some of the same legal rights as marriage. Under the proposed amendment, Texas would not recognize "any arrangement similar to marriages, not even civil unions between two people of the opposite sex," said Rep. Warren Chisum [official site], co-author of the resolution. The Daily Texan has more.

In a related story, the 300,000-member Navajo Nation, the largest Native American reservation, has backed a bill to ban gay marriage. The Dine Marriage Act [official press release] prohibits marriage between close relatives, as well as between persons of the same sex. The tribal council approved the measure 63-0 last week, despite President Joe Shirley's opposition. Historians say Native Americans once tolerated gays in their community but the influence of Europeans in the New World changed their social attitudes. Reuters has more.

About Paper Chase

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible format.